Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19th, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. Poe became an orphan at an early age of two years old, his mother died.
His father had disappeared just before his mother's death. Edgar was raised as an orphan by Frances Allan, and
her husband John Allan in Richmond, Virginia. Edgar spent almost seven years with the Allan family. He also attended a boarding
school in England durring this time. Edgar began to gamble while away at school. He was known, too, for a drinking addiction.

Edgar had a peculiar custom with his name. He was never formally adopted by the Allan family, which was entirely his parent's decision. Poe
was disappointed by this fact. For this reason, during most of his life Edgar did not include "Allan" in his name. His own words were that the name,
"was not his and he did not deserve it until he was formally adopted." The most he ever acknowledged the fact he was adopted was by adding "A." to his
name. It was not unti...